Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head.
Description of the Related Art
A liquid ejection head is used in a liquid ejecting apparatus, such as an ink jet recording apparatus, and ejects liquid (ink) onto a recording medium, such as paper, utilizing energy-generating elements, and then records an image and the like. The liquid ejection head has a substrate on which energy-generating elements, such as a heat generating element and a piezoelectric body, are formed, and a nozzle layer formed on the substrate. In the substrate, a liquid supply port is formed. In the nozzle layer, liquid chambers and a liquid flow passage are formed. Moreover, liquid ejection ports are formed in an upper portion of the nozzle layer. Liquid supplied to the liquid chambers from the liquid supply port of the substrate receives energy from the energy-generating elements, and then is ejected from the liquid ejection ports.
Methods for manufacturing a liquid ejection head include a method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-286149. According to the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-286149, a substrate having energy-generating elements at the front surface side is first prepared. Next, a positive photosensitive resin is applied to the front surface side of the substrate, and then the applied positive photosensitive resin is patterned by photolithography to thereby form a mold material of liquid chambers from the positive photosensitive resin. Next, the formed mold material is covered with a negative photosensitive resin, and then the negative photosensitive resin is patterned by photolithography to thereby form a nozzle layer having liquid ejection ports from the negative photosensitive resin. Next, the front surface side of the substrate and the nozzle layer are covered with a protective layer and the like, and then etching is performed from the back surface side of the substrate to form a liquid supply port in the substrate. Then, the protective layer is removed and further the mold material is removed, whereby liquid chambers are formed in the nozzle layer. The liquid ejection head is manufactured as described above.
The method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-286149 described above is a method excellent in practicality. However, the formation positions of the energy-generating elements on the substrate sometimes slightly vary due to a manufacturing error and the like. In addition thereto, since the liquid chambers are formed by patterning of the positive photosensitive resin, an advanced technique is required for registration of the energy-generating elements and the liquid chambers. When the positional relationship of the heat generating elements and the liquid chambers varies, the liquid ejection properties of the liquid ejection head may be affected.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head capable of easily matching the formation positions of energy-generating elements with the formation positions of liquid chambers in the liquid ejection head.